How To Buy A Laptop - 7 Areas To Cut Costs

You have decided to buy a nice laptop by using mylater to add more, thus throwing away value (maybe
laptop buying guide (link below), but you can't quiteyou can eBay it for a couple bucks).
justify or maybe afford spending that much money4. Screen. Older eyes might prefer the lower
on it.resolution of a less expensive screen. Most laptops
Is there some way to cut the cost a little bit,have 1 or maybe 2 native resolutions that actually
without sacrificing too much?look good. These are fairly high resolutions that many
Yes. You make compromises. But at this point, onlyover 40, especially women, find difficult to read. Dell's
you can decide where you are willing to skimp.WSXGA is as good of screen as WSXGA+ or
The $2000 laptop that most of my clients end upWUXGA, just lower resolution. Compare before you
buying is tailored to last 3 - 4 years, with contentedbuy!
computing along the way. Ok, maybe we'll have to5. Hard Drive. Go smaller if you like, but don't go
reload Windows at the 2 year point to regain thatslower. 7200rpm or faster (faster not available as of
new computer performance, but at least it can bethis writing) is all you want to consider. End of
done.discussion, don't listen to anyone else.
Here are 7 areas to consider for paring the cost of6. Video card. For strictly business usage on Windows
that new laptop:XP, you can save a little here. If you are doing a lot
of graphics work, watching movies, or expect to use
1. Overall brand quality. Not a good idea in my bookWindows Vista with the Aero interface, I wouldn't
to skimp too much here. Witness my previous blogadvise skimping here.
posts about the Sony VAIO. Others on the web7. Warranty. This is your call. See my post on
have had similar recommendations to avoid that one.CompleteCare. Repairs are expensive; do you
But still there might be a way to get a good brandordinarily self-insure? Computer hardware has a nasty
without paying top dollar. The web provides tools tohabit of dying within 30 days of warranty expiration -
find the deals.call it Murphy's Law if you like.
2. Processor. I normally pick the fastest processor onOperating system is possibly an 8th point to consider
the price/performance curve that sits right wherefor reducing cost. Don't pay extra for Windows Vista
cost starts increasing faster than performance gain.Ultimate if you aren't going to need the features, and
You can cheat a little here and hopefully still get 3don't skimp down to Vista Basic and then wonder
years from the hardware. Just don't count onwhy you don't have the cool Aero interface. Again,
upgrading the processor later - no matter what anycompare before you buy.
salesman tells you.Oh, and here's the link to my laptop buying guide that
3. RAM. This isn't a bad place to save some money,I mentioned above. Click here.
because you can easily upgrade later. Just don't goThe buying guide is already tuned pretty well for
through the manufacturer; companies like DELL cancost versus performance, so take the guide and the
really sock it to you on upgrades. Choose someplace7 cost paring tips, then see if you can come up with
like instead. Tip: Depending on price structure, getting,the perfect fit for you and your budget.
say 512MB in 1 DIMM now lets you add 1 moreThe choice is yours. Just do yourself a favor and
512MB DIMM later for a total of 1GB and still makechoose wisely! I hope the resources I have given you
use of the 512 that came with it. If you buy 512 viahere will help.
2 DIMMs, you will have to remove 1 or both DIMMs